Numerous times during the preparation for and staging of the 2015 Women’s World Cup, FIFA has made it clear that they don’t really give a shit about the women or teams involved. Here is another example.
Tuesday’s semifinal match-up between Germany and the United States—the winner advances to the final, where they will be favored to beat the Japan-England winner—promises to be a hotly contested affair. But in the run-up to this pivotal match, the German and American players have had to contend with repeatedly bumping into each other in their hotel, which they share. On Monday both German coach Silvia Neid and U.S. coach Jill Ellis criticized the arrangement, which has persisted the entire tournament. Via AFP:
“Two teams that are supposed to play against each other shouldn’t be sharing the same hotel,” Neid said of an arrangement that does not happen at the men’s tournament.
“But it’s not only the case in the semi-final. It has been like that for the whole tournament,” the 51-year-old former international continued.
“For us it was difficult after having won against Sweden. The Swedish players were pretty sad, but we still had to share the elevator with them, and the same with France.
For her part, Ellis said that she almost walked into the room where the German team was eating, and previous opponent Australia’s “meal room was right next to ours. Is it ideal? You make it work.”
The teams have made it work all tournament long, and in the grand scheme of things it’s not the biggest injustice. But do the men’s teams have to put up with it at the World Cup? Of course not:
Photo of Silvia Neid hugging former USWNT Thomas Sermann via AP
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